Following A Thousand Ships, which was short-listed for Britain's Women's Prize for Fiction and a best seller in the United States, Haynes's Pandora's Jar belongs to a growing number of titles that put the female characters of Greek mythology front and center as less passive or secondary than they've been regarded (25,000-copy hardcover and 30,000-copy paperback first printing)

Classicist Haynes (A Thousand Ships) challenges common ideas about Greek mythology in this sharp corrective. To show "how differently were viewed in the ancient world," she closely reads the tales of 10 mythological women. Medusa, for example, was more than just a serpent-haired villain, but was transformed into a "monster" after being raped by Poseidon. In the tale of Jocasta written by Sophocles, she and Oedipus did not realize the nature of their relationship (and readers often overlook her "terrible fate," Haynes writes). Medea, meanwhile, was a clever woman whose choice between "jealous or crazy" mirrors Beyoncé's, and Pandora didn't unleash evils onto the world out of vengeance--her vessel was originally a jar, not a box, and one easily tipped over. Haynes also offers a fascinating study of renderings of mythological figures in art as they changed over time, including on ancient water jars, in Italian bowls from 400 BCE, and as 16th-century statues. While in some sections Haynes assumes too much knowledge on the part of the reader, when she hits her stride and seamlessly blends historical, textual, and artistic analysis, her survey sings. Even those casually familiar with Greek mythology will find this enriching. Agent: Peter Strauss, RCW Literary. (Mar.)

Tales of the Greek heroes are indelibly woven into the fabric of Western storytelling, as the exploits of Odysseus and Oedipus are told and retold to each new generation. But what of the women? In Pandora's Jar, comedian and classicist Haynes (A Thousand Ships, 2019) explores the lives and afterlives of figures like Medea, Penelope, Medusa, and Clytemnestra. Portrayals of these women frequently fall along predictable, usually condemnatory lines--Medea the unnatural mother, Helen the ultimate femme fatale. Haynes complicates these narratives, diving into the historical and literary records to understand how and why stories and interpretations of the women of Greek mythology have changed over time. Why does Greek art lack any images of Jocasta? Why does Helen shoulder the blame not only for the multiple abductions she suffers but also for 10 years of war among men? What might Eurydice have to say about Orpheus' failure to save her life? Packed with wry humor and scholarly insight, Pandora's Jar shines a new light on our oldest stories, illuminating its subjects in all their painful complexity.

An analysis of the women of Greek myths and how "every myth contains multiple timelines within itself: the time in which it is set, the time it is first told, and every retelling afterwards." Writer, classicist, and comedian Haynes has written extensively on the ancient world. In her latest book, she rescues the reputations of some of the women in Greek mythology. She highlights the stories of women that have been retold countless times and explores the evolution of their characters over the centuries. Divided into 10 chapters, her narrative discusses Pandora, Jocasta, Helen, Medusa, the Amazons, Clytemnestra, Eurydice, Phaedra, Medea, and Penelope. In her discussion of Pandora, Haynes points out that Pandora's box didn't appear until Erasmus translated Hesiod's Works and Days into Latin "well over two millennia after Hesiod was writing in Greek." Furthermore, Hesiod's original version made no reference to Pandora releasing its contents. "For the ancients," Haynes suggests, "Pandora's role as the ancestor of all women was far more important than her disputed role in opening the world to incessant evil." Regarding the stories of Helen causing the Trojan War, Haynes contends that she was "nothing but a beautiful pawn." Turning to the legends associated with Medusa, the author notes that while some versions of her myth have called her a "monster," others claim that she was born beautiful but was afflicted with "snaky hair" to save her from future sexual encounters with men. Throughout, Haynes also notes that these often outlandish retellings and related tropes have become (flawed) inspirations for works of modern art, music, and film, including the original Star Trek series, an episode of The Simpsons, Pulp Fiction, and a music video by Beyoncé. Although the author assumes her audience is familiar with Greek mythology, readers of all levels of knowledge are certain to be enthralled with her analysis and find her humor and wit captivating. A fun and informative addition to the ongoing consideration of ancient mythology. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.